Bottle stopper



L. A. POPE BOTTLE STOPPER April l0, 1962 Filed Jan. 24, 1961 FIG-6INVENToR. Louis. APOPE ATTOR N EY United States 3,028,9S BTTLE STOPPERLouis A. Pope, 70S .lames St., Syracuse, NX., assigner of one-half toRobert E. Lutz, Syracuse, N. Y. Filed Jan. 24, 1961, Ser. No. 34,707 2Claims. (Cl. 21S-52) This invention relate-s to bottle Stoppers, andmore particularly to a reusable stopper adapted to be employed to holdthe remaining contents of a carbonated beverage bottle without loss ofcarbonation and pressure for deferrcd consumption.

Bottles employed for the dispensing of carbonated beverages, soda, beerand the like are provided with an outwardly extending annular beadaround the mouth thereof to receive the usual crown type of cap. Suchcap when once removed, is usually deformed in the removal process, andcannot be replaced in most instances and in any event without specialbottle capping apparatus, and when so replaced is generally incapable ofholding pressure. The unused contents of the bottle is thus allowed tolose its carbonation, and the contents beco-mes dead and unpalatable,and is usually thrown away, and thus represents considerable was-tage.

The present invention is directed to a stopper capable of insertion intothe neck of the bottle to a point below where the internal diameter ofthe neck flares outwardly, the stopper `at its lower end beingdistendable in diameter in the flared portion of the neck whereby toprovide a pressure seal. More particularly the stopper comprises anelongated tubular member of rubber or other suitable elastic materialclosed at its lower end, and provided with an interior shoulder ange atits upper end to embrace the external annular head of the bottle mouth.The lower end `of lthe stopper is provided with an annular enlargementorgroove immediately adjacent the lower end, whose relaxed lexternaldiameter is capable of free insertion into the bottle mouth. Anexpanding disk of semi-rigid, slightly resilient material has itsmarginal edge seated in said groove, and the disk is slit radially tothe center, whereby to permit the disk to assume a conical shape of lessexterior diameter, to permit the stopper to be inserted into `andremoved from the bottle neck, and adapted to assume a relatively flatplanar form, in which the disk causes the annular groove portion of thestopper to enlarge and engage the enlarged diameter of the internalflare of the bottle neck. The invention is further directed to toolsmanually operable for causing the disk to shift from its conical form toits ila-t enlarged diameter form, and vice versa whereby to render thestopper capable of insertion into, or removal from, the bottle neck, asWell as to enlarge the lower end to provide the seal. Y

The above and other novel features of the invention will appear morefully hereinafter lfrom the following detailed description when taken inconjunction with the accompanying drawings. It is expressly understoodthat the drawings are employed for purposes `of illustration only andare not designed as a definition of the limits of the invention,reference bei-ng had for this purpose to the appended claims.

In the drawings, wherein like reference characters indicate like parts:

FIGURE l is a longitudinal sectional view thro-ugh the mouth of a bottlewith the stopper inserted in position for sealing expansion.

FIGURE 2 is a longitudinal sectional view lthrough the mouth of thebottle showing the stopper expanded to form a seal.

FiGURE 3 is a longitudinal sectional view through the mouth of thebottle sho-Wing the stopper after breaking the seal by allowing thestopper to contract.

FIGURE 4 is an enlarged plan view of the disk in its conical formation.

FiGURE 5 is a sectional view taken on the line 5--5 of FIGURE 4; and

FIGURE 6 is a plan View of the disk when in the flat formation with itsdiameter enlarged.

Referring to the drawings there is shown the neck of a standard beveragebottle of the type adapted to hold its contents under carbonation andpressure. The bottle has a mouth 2li, having an exterior bead 22,adapted to receive a crown type cap, as will be well understood in theart. The bottle exterior has an enlarged diameter portion as at 24 belowwhich the bottle neck commences to flare as at 26. The interior of theneck has a generally cylindrical portion 23, which commences to are asat 39, the portion therebel-ow as at 32 gradually increasing indiameter.

The bottle stopper is of generally thimble shape and may be molded orotherwise formed of resilient rubber or the equivalent. The stopper hasan annular upper outwardly extending integral flange 36 adapted toembrace the beaded mouth of the bottle, an elongated substantiallycylindrical body portion 38, which terminates in an annular outwardlyextending grooved portion 40, adjacent the closed end portion 4l, whichmay be referred to as the end diaphragm.

Seated within the annulargroove 4i) is a disk 42 of relatively rigidmaterial such as red fiber board. Such disk, as shown in FIGURES 4-6 iscapable of ilexing suiciently to make a conical shape as shown in FIG-URES 4 and 5, or a flat shape as shown in FiGURE 6, the disk having asingle radial slit 44, to permit the peripheral portion 46' to ride overor under the adjacent peripheral portion 4S when in the conicalconfiguration. The slit 44 may termina-te in a small central circularcutout portion Si) to facilitate the transformation from the flat stateto theconical state as indicated. The edges 52 and 54 formed by theslitwill be transversely cut to provide thin surfaces lying generally inan axial plane or planes, so that when abutting one another, as when thedisk is in its substantially flat aspect, resistance to deforming thedisk into its conical configuration is afforded, except undercircumstances when the edges are disaligned, that is disk adjacent oneedge being displaced axially from the plane of the disk adjacent theother edge, so that one edge may override the other.

Referring to FIGURE l, it will be seen that there Y seated in theannular groove itl of the stopper a disk 42,

ing the annular groove is such as to hold the disk sprung in the conicalform shown, and when so sprung the exterior diameter of the annulargroove portion is such as to readily slide into and out of the neckportion of the bottle, and just clear the cylindrical wall portion 28thereof.

With the stopper located in the bo-ttle as shown in FIGURE l, the diskin its conical form is reached by the substantially flat end 7@ of themanual tool 72, and by pressing said tool into the bottle `to the limitas determined by the shoulder 72 of the handle portion 74, the disk isforced to a ilat planar conliguration, the center being ymoved beyonddead center by the slight conical shape of the end 7i). Such actiontends to stretch the substantially cylindrical wall portion of thestopper thimble, flattens the disk causing the overriding portion 46 ofthe disk to move circumferentially with respect to the underridingportion 48 whereby when the disk is in the substantially datconguration, the slit edges fall into a com-mon plane, and abut oneanother to thereby maintain the disk in the substantially flatconfiguration. the disk is thus caused to expand against the resiliencyof the annular groove portion of the stopper, forcing the exterior ofthe groove into the .dared portion of the bottle The peripheral edge ofY n i 3,0 3 neck, to thereby form a pressure seal, as shown in PEG- URE2.

To remove the stopper, a manual tool 90 having a shoulder 92 on itslower end is projected into the stopper and pressed against the diskadjacent the slit to force the portion of the disk adjacent one side `ofthe slit below the plane of the portion adjacent the other side of theslit, thereby permitting the portions adjacent the slit to override todestroy the rigidity which disk had, when in its substantially planarconfiguration. Once the edges of the slit are so positioned as to permitoverriding, the resiliency ofthe annular groove portion of the stopperwhich was expanded in diameter, placing the groove portion of thestopper under peripheral tension, is allowed to relax and return to itsoriginal diameter, as for example shown in both FIGURES 1 and 3. Thestopper is then removable from the bo-ttle, the seal having thus beenbroken.

Once the stopper is removed from the bottle, the disk may be manipulatedto return it to the position shown in FIGURE 1, whereupon the 4stopperis ready for reuse.

While reference has been made to a bottle as an applica* tion for theuse of the stopper, it should be apparent that the stopper will seal anyopening of similar contour to that of a bottle, the stopper expanding toa larger diameter than the throat of the opening to form a seal.

Although a single embodiment of the invention has been illustrated anddescribed, it is to be understood that the invention is not limitedthereto. As various changes in the construction and arrangement may bemade without departing from the spirit of the invention, as will beapparent to those skilled in the art, reference will be had to theappended claims for a denition of the limits of the invention.

What is claimed is: t

1. In combination, a bottle having a neck terminating at its mouth withan exterior annular bead, and having a neck opening that ares andenlarges in diameter to form the bottle proper, a stopper in the form ofa thimble having an annular outwardly extending flange atits open upperend adapted to embrace the annular bead around the mouth of the bottle,said thimble being of a length and diameter to extend into the neck ofthe bottle and into the flare of the neck, said stopper being closed atits lower end and having, adjacent its lower end an outwardly extendinginternal annular groove and an exterior annular sealing bead, saidthimble being formed of resilient rubber like material, and having anunstressed normal exterior diameter including the sealing bead notgreater than the aas-e5 internal diameter of the neck, and a circulardisk of relatively thin stiff resilient material having a radial slitextending to the center thereof disposed with its marginal edge in saidgroove, whereby said disk may assume a conical shape with the portionsthereof adjacent said slit overlapping with a peripheral diameter thatof the diameter of said groove when unstressed, and a substantiallyplanar shape with the edge portions of said slit abutting, and theoverall diameter thereof greater than the unstressed diameter of saidgroove, whereby the exterior bead around said groove may be enlarged toprovide sealing engagement with the internal ared portion of the neck ofthe bottle.

2. A ybottle stopper for use in a bottle having a neck terminating atits mouth with an exterior annular bead, and having a neck opening thatflares and enlarges in diameter to form the bottle proper, said bottlestopper being in the form of a thimble having an annular outwardlyextending liange at its open `upper end adapted to embrace the annularbead around the mouth of the bottle, said thimble being of a length anddiameter to extend into the neck of the bottle and into the flare of theneck, said stopper being closed at its lower end and having, adjacentits lower end an outwardly extending internal annular groove and anexterior annular sealing bead, said thimble being formed of resilientrubber like material, and having an unstressed normal exterior diameterincluding the sealing bead not greater than the internal diameter of thebottle neck, and a circular disk of relatively thin stii resilientmaterial having a radial slit extending to the center thereof disposedwith its marginal edge in said groove, whereby said disk may assume aconical shape with the portions thereof adjacent said slit overlapping,with a peripheral diameter that of the diameter of said groove whenunstressed, and a substantially planar shape with the edge portions ofsaid slit abutting, and the overall diameter thereof greater than theunstressed diameter of said groove, whereby the exterior bead aroundsaid groove may be enlarged to provide sealing engagement with theinternal flared portion of the neck of the bottle.

References Cited in the tile of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS889,500 Anderson June 2, 1900 FOREIGN PATENTS 1,067,312 France Jan. 27,1954

